It is the right final, Walid Regragui, Morocco’s head coach insists. The logical showdown, the rational meeting of best and next-best. His rising powerhouse and Senegal are simply “the top two teams in Africa from the last three years”.
A week or so ago, you might have heard a stronger argument against that claim from, say, Ivory Coast. But then the Ivorians were deposed as the continent’s reigning champions two rounds ahead of Sunday's Africa Cup of Nations final (11pm kick off, UAE).
The Ivorians’ conquerors, Egypt, might wish to point out that, having reached two Afcon finals out of the last five, plus their all-time record seven titles gives them special status. But Mohamed Salah’s Pharaohs were clearly second-best to Senegal in last Wednesday’s semi.
Nigeria pushed hard – and had scored more goals than any other at the 35th Afcon – to put themselves in contention for the gold or at least the same silver medal they collected two years ago in the final Abidjan.
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